Managing: Instructions Item Banks, and Tests

Managing: Instructions Item Banks, and Tests You can select the following options under Manage: Add/Restore Duplicate/Backup Delete Duplicate/Backup of Item Banks You may want to duplicate Instructions, Item Banks, and Tests to share with other users or for general back-up purposes. Item Banks: Select File, Manage Item Bank, Duplicate/Backup Item Bank The file will have a *.BKP extension You can select to Duplicate by Owner Name or Duplicate by Password If you duplicate by Owner Name only the Primary User can Add the Item Bank back into ParTEST. 5-1

If you duplicate the Item Bank with a password, any ParTEST user can Add the Item Bank as long as you provide the password. The password should be at least 2 characters, but is limited to 20 characters. Add Item Bank is used to add the ParTEST Item Bank (*.BKP). Delete Item Bank is used to delete an existing Item Bank. You may Delete an Item Bank, but be aware that if the Item Bank contains questions used on an existing test, the test can no longer be used. If the Item Bank is deleted you will need to resolve the invalid questions. Refer to Resolving Invalid Instructions and Questions in the User s Guide. Before Deleting an Item Bank, duplicate it in case you need to restore it at a later time. Follow the same procedures for Instructions or a Test Duplicate/Backup of a Test will have an extension of *.BKT Duplicate/Backup of an Instruction will have an extension of *.BKI Exporting Item Banks You may export Item Banks one at a time to other applications that support Rich Text Format (RTF) files or into a HTML Document. You can select all questions or selective questions. You can select the desired details for each question. Select the Item Bank. Select File, Export, and Item Bank. Select All Questions or Selective Questions. Select Types of Information. Select Export and enter a File name. 5-2

Importing existing Item Banks You can import existing Item Banks from a text format or from a ParTEST DOS file. Select File, Import, Item Bank Select the File Type Select the ASCII (.TXT) or ParTEST for DOS (.BNK) file. Select Open Refer to Appendix in the User s Guide for ASCII file layouts. Select the option (Option I or Option II) that is the closet to your existing question format. Use the Save As feature and save as a MS-DOS Text file or Text Only when saving the file in Word or WordPerfect (or any other text editor). See: Importing existing Tests for Rich Text Formats 5-3

INTENTIONAL BLANK PAGE 5-4

Option I ASCII File Example (not commonly used) This option is generated when you export items from ParTEST DOS 5-5

Option II ASCII File Example Option II File Layout Details All items must be of the same question type Create a separate file for each question type The first line must identify the question type MC = Multiple Choice TF = True/False MT = Matching FI = Fill-in and ES = Essay-Problem Number questions in sequence (starting with 1) Create up to five answer choices (A, B, C, D, E) Identify the correct answer by replacing the letter choice with an * asterisk Question numbers and answer choice labels must be followed by ) right parenthesis Type a carriage return <CR> to leave a blank line where desired 5-6

When more than one line is required for running text, position the second line and all subsequent lines to start in the same column as the text in the previous line Each file can store up to 99 questions The Question text and Answer text must start in the 5th column. If any errors are encountered during the import an error message with the question number will be displayed. You will need to re-open the file and correct the error. If you receive an error about the file is not in a ParTEST Option I or Option II layout the Question Type at the beginning of the file is missing. 5-7

Importing existing Tests Select File, Import, Test Select the File Type Select Files of type (see below) Select the desired file Select Open See the ParTEST User s Guide for XML Importing 5-9

Rich Text File Layout: Possible Errors: The question prior to the error will import into the new item bank. After modifying the RTF file, delete the existing item bank or change the name during the next import. 5-11